Report Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Report - Coursework Example This process is called transmutation. An element keeps changing as the nucleus loses energy and mass. Coins are metallic. They also are elements that contain mass. They are fit because they have heads and tails. Radioactivity can be determined when the coins land on a different side to mean that they have lost energy and mass. It is a probabilistic method, but it works well to establish the hypothesis involved. Probability is used in these experiments determine half-life and the process of decay. It is a game. It uses random actions to prove certain trends. Probability is also used here to track progress of decay of the coins. It eliminates decayed coins against non-decayed. Two random experiments were conducted to determine radioactive decay of random coins. The purpose was to come up with a statistical explanation for their radioactivity and to establish the procedure. The coins were tossed and probability was used to determine the process of decay. The coins were tossed and each coin that landed on its head was decayed. Each coin that was on its tails was not decayed. This was the mode of separation for the decay process. The second hypothesis is also a little faulty. It is almost 3. An average of 2.97 is recorder in the table to mean that the throws after the first are mostly two or three to create two or less coins

Advances in Composite Laminate Theories

Advances in Composite Laminate Theories This paper reviews the Composite Laminate Theories that have already been proposed and developed in the recent years. These theories mainly focus on the macro mechanical analysis of the composite laminates which provides the elastic relations of the lamina. Stress-induced failure can occur in multiple ways in composite materials. Hence to understand and predict transverse shear and normal stress accurately, various composite laminate theories have been developed. The advantages and disadvantages of each model are discussed in detail. In this study, the Composite Laminate Theories are divided into two parts: (1) Single Layer Theory, where the entire plate is considered as one layer and (2) Layer Wise Theory, where each layer is treated separately for the analysis. It starts with displacement-based theories from very basic models such as Classical laminate theory to more complex higher-order shear deformation theory. [6] INTRODUCTION The requirement of composite materials has grown rapidly. These materials are ideal for applications that require low density and high strength. Composite materials provide great amount of flexibility in design through the variation of the fiber orientation or stacking sequence of fiber and matrix materials. The mechanical behavior of laminates strongly depends on the thickness of lamina and the orientation of fibers. Hence, the lamina must be designed to satisfy the specific requirements of each particular application and to obtain maximum advantage from the directional properties of its constituent materials. The normal stresses and through-thickness distributions of transverse shear for composite materials are very important because in laminate composite plates, stress-induced failures occur through three mechanisms. For instance, when the in-plane stress gets too large, then the fiber breakage occurs. However, normally before the in-plane stresses exceed the fiber breakage point, inter laminar shear stress failure occurs when one layer slips tangentially relative to another. Alternatively, transverse normal stress may increase enough to cause failure by which two layers pull apart from each other. Therefore, it is imperative to understand and calculate transverse shear and normal stress through the thickness of the plate accurately. In general, two different approaches have been used to study laminated composite structures, which are: (1) single layer theories and (2) discrete layer theories. In the single layer theory approach, layers in laminated composites are assumed to be one equivalent single layer (ESL) whereas in the discrete theory approach, each layer is considered separately in the analysis. Also, plate deformation theories can be categorized into two types: (1) displacement and (2) stress -based theories. A brief description of displacement-based theories is given below: displacement-based theories can be divided into two categories: classical l aminate theory (CLT) and shear deformation plate theories. Normally, composite laminate plate theories are described in the CLT, the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT), the global higher-order theory, and the global-local higher shear deformation theory (SDT). DESCRIPTION: In the studies carried out in last few decades, many different theories were presented to overcome various issues and explain the behaviors of composite materials more accurately. In this paper, these theories are reviewed, categorized, and their advantages, weaknesses and limitations are discussed in detail. LAMINATED COMPOSITE PLATES Classical Laminate Theory (CLT) The simplest ESL laminate plate theory is the CLT, which is based on displacement based theories. In the nineteenth century Kirchhoff initiated the two-dimensional classical theory of plates and later on it was continued by Love and Timoshenko. The principal assumption in CLT is that normal lines to the mid-plane before deformation remain straight and normal to the plane after deformation. The other assumptions made in this theory are (1) the in-plane strains are small when compared to unity (2) the plates are perfectly bonded (3) the displacement are small compared to the thickness. Although these assumptions lead to simple constitutive equations, it is also the main limitation of the theory. These assumptions of neglecting the shear stresses lead to a reduction or removal of the three natural boundary conditions that should be satisfied along the free edges. These natural boundary conditions are the bending moment, normal force and twisting couple. Despite its limitations, CLT is s till a common approach used to get quick and simple predictions especially for the behavior of thin plated laminated structures. The main simplification in this model is that 3D structural plates ( with thickness ) or shells are treated as 2D plate or shells located through mid-thickness which results in a significant decrement of the total number of equations and variable, consequently saving a lot of computational time and effort. Since they are present in closed-form solutions, they provide better practical interpretation and their governing equations are easier to solve [6]. This approach remains popular because it has become the foundation for further composite plate analysis theories and methods. This method works relatively well for structures that are made out-of a balanced and symmetric laminate, experiencing either pure tension or only pure bending. The error which is introduced by neglecting the effect of transverse shear stresses becomes trivial on or near the edges and corners of thick-sectioned laminate configurations. It is observed that the induced error increases for thick plates made of composite layers. This is mainly due to the fact that the ratio of longitudinal to transverse shear elastic moduli is relatively large compared to isotropic materials [2]. It neglects transverse shear strains, under predicts deflections and overestimates natural frequencies and buckling loads [3]. Composite plates are, subjected to transverse shear and normal stresses due to their discontinuous through-thickness behavior and their global anisotropic nature [3]. In order to achieve better predictions of the response characteristics, such as bending, buckling stresses, torsion, etc., a number of other theories have been developed which are presented in following sections [6]. Figure1. Deformation Hypothesis [Taken from class notes. Advanced Plate Theory.1] Displacement and strain field for CLT are given below: [Taken from class notes. [1]] First-order shear deformation theories (FSDT) Reissner and Mindlin developed the conventional theories for analyzing thicker laminated composite plate which also considered the transfer shear effects. These theories are popularly known as the shear deformation plate theories. Many other theories, which are extension of SDT, have also been proposed to analyze the thicker laminated composite. These theories are primarily built on the assumption that the displacement w is constant through the thickness while the displacements u and v vary linearly through the thickness of each layer. In general, these theories are known as FSDT. The primary outcome of this theory is that the transverse straight lines will be straight both before and after the deformation but they will not be normal to the mid-plane after deformation. As this theory postulates constant transverse shear stress, it needs a shear correction factor to satisfy the plate boundary conditions on both the lower and upper surface. The shear correction factor is introduced to adjust the transverse shear stiffness values and thereby, the accuracy of results of the FSDT will depend notably on the shear correction factor. Further research has been undertaken to overcome the limitations of FSDT without involving higher-order theories to avoid increasing the complexity of the equations and computations [2, 7]. Authors like Bhaskar and Varadan [23] used the combination of Naviers approach and a Laplace transform technique to solve the equations of equilibrium. Onsy et al. [4] presented a finite strip solution for laminated plates. They used the FSDT and assumed that the displacements u and v vary linearly through the thickness of each layer and are continuous at the interfaces between adjacent layers. They also postulated that the displacement w does not vary through the thickness. These assumptions provide a more realistic situation (when compared with CLPT) where in the shear strains are not continuous across the interfaces between adjacent lamina. The other limitations are (1) assumption of constant shear stress is not correct as stresses must be zero at free surfaces. (2) FDST produces accurate results only for very thin plates. In order to calculate transverse shear more accurately, to satisfy all boundary conditions and to analyze the behavior of more complicated thick composite structures under different loading condition and to overcome the limitations the use of higher-order shear deformation theories are imperative[1]. Figure2. Reissner Mindline Plate [picture taken from MAE 557 class notes. 1] Higher Order Shear Deformation Theory: The limitations of the CLT and the FSDT have persuaded the researchers to develop a number of global HOSDT. The higher-order models are based on an assumption of nonlinear stress variation through the thickness [1]. These theories are developed for thick plates but are predominantly 2D in nature. These theories are capable of representing the section warping in the deformed configuration. At the layer interfaces, some of these models do not satisfy the continuity conditions of transverse shear stresses. Although the discrete layer theories do not have this concern, they are computationally slow when solving these problems because of the fact that the order of their governing equations purely depends on the number of layers [24]. Whitney attempted to examine the problem with inter laminar normal stress [25]. Several authors were involved in developing this theory , for instance the calculation of inter laminar normal stress was studied by Pagano [26], a boundary layer theory by Tang [ 6], the perturbation method by Hsu and Herakovich , and an approximate elasticity solutions by Pipes and Pagano. In most of these models, the laminate is assumed to be reasonably long. The stress singularities were considered in a model presented by Wang and Choi. In order to determine the stress singularities at the laminate free edges, Wang and Choi used the Lekhnitskiis [27] stress potential and the theory of anisotropic elasticity. The Eigen function technique developed by them uses a collocation system at every ply interface to satisfy continuity. The major limitation of this theory is that it can be applied to only relatively thin laminates [17]. In order to explain plate deformation for composite laminate plates with thickness, Ambartsumian proposed a higher-order transverse shear stress function. Various different functions were proposed by Reddy [2], Touratier , Karama and Soldatos. The results of some of these methods were compared by Aydogdu [23]. For example, a 2D higher -order theory is developed by Matsunaga to investigate buckling in isotropic plates for in-plane loads where the effects of transverse shear and normal deformations are predicted in his study. Higher-order theories, which consider the complete effects of transverse shear, normal deformations and rotary inertia, have been studied for the vibration and stability problems of specific laminates. In general, researchers who have wanted to simulate plates have used the third-order shear deformation theories (TSDTs) which was first published by Schmidt and later developed by Jemielita. This theory is also known as parabolic shear deformation plate theory (PSDPT). Researchers like Phan and Reddy [30] applied this theory for the free vibration, the bending and the buckling of composite plates [23]. The same unknown displacements as those used in FSDT were used. This theory also satisfies transverse shear-free conditions at the outer surfaces. The results obtained show that for the thick lami nates the in-plane stresses are predicted much well than those identified using FSDT, but still these results have errors when compared with 3D models. This theory is not based on the layer-wise type, therefore, unlike most of other ESL theories, it does not satisfy the continuity conditions of transverse shear stresses between layers [9]. Vuksanovic proposed another parabolic distribution of shear strains through the laminated plate thickness which has a cubic variation of in-plane displacement. The results confirm that this model can predict the global laminate response better than previous used parabolic methods. The primary limitation is that it is challenging to accurately compute the inter laminar stress distributions [9]. In the third-order shear deformation theories assumes (1) the in-plane displacements are a cubic expression of the thickness coordinate (2) the out-of-plane displacement is a quadratic expression. Carrera presented a third-order shear deformation theory whic h based on the model which was presented by Vlasov for equation of bending plates. By imposing homogeneous stress conditions with correspondence to the plate top-surface the reduced third-order shear deformation model with only three displacement variables was obtained. This was further modified in the same research for the non-homogeneous stress conditions[6]. Figure2. Displacement field and transverse shear stress field for the various composite laminate theories. [* Figure taken from class notes. Advanced_plate_theory.pdf] Trigonometric shear deformation plate theory (TSDPT) Shear deformation plate theories which use trigonometric functions are called TSDPT. In this theory the ability to predict accurate solutions has been enhanced by combing trigonometric terms with the algebraic through the- thickness terms assumed for the displacements. Touratier [48] chose transverse strain distribution as a sine function [23]. Stein developed a 2D theory wherein the displacements are stated by trigonometric series. Stein and Jegley studied the effects of transverse shear stress on the cylindrical bending of the laminated composite plates [31]. The results obtained from these theories show that this theory calculates the stresses more accurately than other theories. Kassapogolou and Lagace used the principle of minimum complimentary energy to introduce a straightforward method to analyze symmetric laminate plates which are subjected to tension/compression [15, 16]. Afterwards Kassapogolou [28] generalized and modified this approach for general unsymmetrical laminate loads i.e. in-plane and out of- plane common moment and shear loads. The shortcomings of this model are that it does not solve the weaknesses of inequality in Poissons ratios. Becker [29] made use of cosine and sine functions for warping deformation of v and w displacement, respectively and developed a closed-form higher-order laminated plate theory. Mortan and Webber presented an analytical method which took into consideration the thermal effects in their model and by using the same approach as Kassapoglou and Becker. Lu and Liu [22] proposed an inter laminar shear stress continuity theory in which the inter laminar shear stress is directly obtained from the constitutive equations. This theory was postulated in order to develop an accurate theory for inter laminar stress analysis by considering both the transverse shear effects and continuity requirements. The drawback in this model is that the deformation in the thickness is neglected and therefore it cannot calculate the inter la minar normal stress directly from the constitutive equations. Later, Lu and Liu [21] developed the interlayer shear slip theory based on a multilayer approach model by investigating the effect of interfacial bonding on the behavior of composite laminates. Finally, Lee and Liu also derived the closed-form solutions for the general analysis of inter laminar stresses for thin and thick composite laminates under sinusoidal distributed loading. Both inter laminar shear stress and inter laminar normal stress at the composite interface were satisfied in this model and also the inter laminar stresses could be calculated directly from the constitutive equations. Touratier [20] proposed a theory based on using certain sinusoidal functions for shear stress. After comparing the results obtained numerically for the bending of sandwich plates it was shown that this theory is more accurate than both FSDT and HOSDT [17]. Hyperbolic shear deformation theory (HSDT): Soldatos proposed the hyperbolic shear deformation theory [6]. Timarci and Soldatos combined the various shear deformation theories to formulate this HSDT. The major advantage of this unified theory is the ability to vary the transverse strain distribution [19]. Authors like Ramalingeswaran and Ganesan [18] have used parabolic and hyperbolic function to uniform external pressure and a simply supported cylindrical shell for cross ply laminated composite by considering an internal sinusoidal pressure [17]. Karama et al. proposed an exponential function for the transverse strain for his study of the bending of composite [6]. Layerwise Theory (LT): (Zigzag effect) In order to present accurate results many new theories like the layerwise theory and individual layer theory have been formulated. Some of the eminent researches involved in developing these theories are Wu, Chen, Plagianakos[13], Saravanos, Fares and Elmarghany[14]. The basic technique employed in these theories is that assuming certain displacement and stress models in each layer of the composite laminates and in order to reduce the unknown variables, equilibrium and compatibility equations are defined at the interface. These theories are often computationally time consuming and very expensive to obtain accurate results due to the fact that they use many different unknowns for multilayered plates. To predict both gross response and the stress distributions accurately a number of layer wise plate models which can represent the zigzag behavior of the in-plane displacement through the thickness have been developed in the recent past. However, in the Layerwise Theories the major drawba ck is that the number of unknown increases significantly with the number of layers and consequently the computational weight becomes considerably heavier and higher. To overcome this problem, various solutions were suggested. Cho and Parmerter presented a model where in the number of the unknowns is independent of the number of layers. They achieved it by superimposing a cubic varying displacement field on a zigzag linearly varying displacement [6]. This method was very efficient as it satisfied the transverse shear stress continuity at the layer interfaces and shear-free surface conditions. The theories that have been developed to justify through-the-thickness piece-wise behavior of stresses and displacement are often subjected to zigzag theories (ZZ). The zigzag effect can be termed as the different tangential elastic compliances of the plies which cause the displacement components to show a quick change of their slopes in the thickness direction at each layer interface. To summar ize, the in-plane stresses can be discontinuous at each layer interface, while the transverse stresses, for equilibrium, must be continuous. In ZZ theory, the compatibility of the displacements and the inter laminar equilibrium of the transverse stresses in the thickness direction are assured by defining a new stiffness matrix [12]. Lekhnitskii was one of the pioneers who tried to define a ZZ theory. The main drawback for this model is the limitation of the approach to only multi-layered composite where each layer is isotropic. Ren later improved this model by using an extension of the theory developed by Reissner to multi-layered plates. This approach used a Lagrange function with five parameters, which represents the DOF of the structure. These are the set of displacement field equations used in zigzag theory. This equation are taken from the class notes, advanced plate theory [1] Mixed Plate Theory: In order to overcome the limitations of each composite laminate theory researchers have started to unify the different laminate theories. Unified equations have been proposed for mixed layer wise and mixed ESL theories. The main aim is to formulate these unified theories in the most general way for users to be able to choose from the approaches like ESL, Layer wise zigzag, etc. and at the same time choose the order of the expansion of displacements and transverse stresses. This class of model has been contemplated over the last few decades. The so-called mixed variation approach based on the variation principles developed by Hellinger was proposed and then improved by Reissner. In this theory the number of variables that must be computed should be at least 2n, where n is the total number of layers. By using the weak form of Hookes Law the number of variables can be significantly reduced, which shows the variables in terms of the three displacements only. Shimpi et al. [11] derived tw o novel formulations with only two variables, which work perfectly for moderately thick isotropic plates. The major limitation is that it requires accurately calculated shear correction factors for transverse shear stresses in multilayered composite plates. Conclusion In this literature review, various composite laminate plate theories have been categorized. The advantages and limitations of each model have been discussed in detail. This paper mainly focused on how efficiently and accurately the various models can predict the transverse shear effects. It is explained that CLT and FSDT are unable to efficiently predict transverse shear stresses of both moderately thick and thick laminated composite plates. Higher order shear deformation theories were developed in order to obtain accurate transverse shear stresses. Also, the zigzag theories satisfying inter laminar continuity of transverse shear stresses at interfaces is unable to accurately compute transverse shear stresses directly from constitutive equations. 3D equilibrium equations have to be adopted to accurately obtain transverse shear stresses which also require heavy computational processing because of the large number of variables which depend on the number of layers, they become impractic al for engineering applications. Some researchers have recently tried to use the transverse shear and warping effect in highly anisotropic composite to passively control the composite structure. Smart passive adaptive structures are a new technological approach for introducing smart and predictable composite materials with wide ranging applications. They can be used to exploit the effects of shear and elastic coupling and link stretching to bending to twisting of the structure. This requires a higher understanding and in-depth knowledge of inter laminar shear. Therefore, predicting transverse shear effect accurately and in practical way for various engineering applications is imperative.

Abuse of Power Reflected in the Politics and Drama of Ancient Greece Es

Individual Abuse of Power Reflected in the Politics and Drama of Ancient Greece The Greeks believed that too much power entrusted in one person was dangerous. They were the first democratic society in a tumultuous world of kings and emperors, and they were proud of their ideology. Considering their fervent belief in rule by many, its not surprising that many Greek dramas revolve around an individual hero or a king's fall from power because of pride or some other personality flaw. Well-known characters in some of the greatest Greek tragedians' plays illustrate this idea. In Aeschylus's Agamemnon, the title character is a returning king who behaves arrogantly and thoughtlessly. He is murdered by his wife and his kingdom falls apart. Sophocles's character Oedipus ends up killing his father, losing his kingdom and his wife and mother, and becoming a blind, wandering outcast for the rest of his life. Jason in Euripides's Medea deserts his family for a new marriage which he hopes will further his station, but his old wife kills his new wife and his children, ending hi s hopes for a shining future. The evolving theme of an individual's weakness and subsequent downfall supports the Greek's democratic system, where no individual becomes too powerful. Agamemnon is a great warrior, but not a great family man. On his way to the Trojan war, he sacrificed his daughter to the gods so that his ships would be able to arrive safely and swiftly. This is an especially rotten thing to do because the war is being waged to reclaim just one woman, Helen. It is hard to justify killing one’s own daughter so that somebody else can get his wife back. However, war is what he is good at, and if he didn’t sacrifice his daughter he would be letting down ... ...ach fall from their power into death or despair. They had become too powerful, too arrogant, and too ambitious, and so the gods cut them down. This pattern of kings falling from power because of weaknesses and character flaws is very common in Greek dramas. The Greeks were proud of their democratic system, and their dramas reflected their belief that their society, ruled jointly by representatives of the people, was best in a world full of unstable and dangerous monarchies. The gods despise men who rise too high and seek to become too great. So do the Greeks. Works Cited Aeschylus. Agamemnon. Greek Tragedy. Eds. A. Cook and E. Dolin. Dallas: Spring Publishing, Inc., 1992. Euripedes; Medea; Trans. Rex Warner. The Harcourt Brace Anthology of Drama: Third Edition. Orlando: Harcourt, 2000. Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1991.

Critique of Health Related Information Sources

Critique of Health Related information sources Abstract Background – The internet is a vast source of information containing over 70 000 health related sites and discerning credible sites can often be a challenging task. It is important however so that reliable information can be obtained. Methods – A series of critique questions were devised to determine the credibility of a health based online journal article and health based website. Questions were determined according to guidelines based on accuracy, links to authority, current relevance, scope of coverage, objectivity and design of each source advised by Hendrix and Winters (2001) [2].Findings – Journal Article; was deemed a credible source coming from a peer reviewed journal with many credible references and no apparent bias or conflict of interest. The main author had significant authority and relevance in the given field and discussions were examined in depth. Most limitations are accounted for though no mention was made regarding possible complications of using slightly out dated data. Findings – Website; was deemed a non-credible source according the critique questions.Very few authors could be linked to articles and most articles were associated with product promotion indicating high levels of bias. While articles were maximum 4 years old, no references were made to original findings and therefore age and accuracy of data could not be confirmed. Conclusion – keeping in mind critiquing criteria is important when discerning any information sourced from the internet whether it is peer-reviewed or not as this does not guarantee 100% credibility. The website chosen was relatively easy to discern.More thought and critical thinking would be required to discern more popular health websites. Introduction Websites can be created by anyone with access to a computer and internet [1] and are subject too misleading or incorrect information whether accidentally or maliciously [2]. There are over 70 000 health-related websites available [3] the form of journals, websites, blogs, other social media, the list goes on. As a health professional, one needs to be aware of the extensive amounts of new and existing research available over the internet, but also how to valuate, discern and decide which information is reliable. Deciding the credibility of a website is not always straight forward. Research shows that even credible websites may not necessarily always provide highly accurate health information [4]. A study found internet to be a desirable medium used by collage students with 74% of participants obtaining health information from the internet via websites such as Yahoo, Ask Jeeves and health. com [5].Some of these sites may seem reputable but are not subject to peer-reviewing. Information subject to peer-review, such as online journals, is significantly more likely to be credible and contain reliable information [6]. The aim of this report is to evaluate an d critique, two health related internet sources, a journal article ‘Energy density of foods and beverages in the Australian food supply: influence of macronutrients and comparison to dietary intake’ [7] and a website ‘Goodhealth. com’ [8] MethodsSources were critiqued based on criteria adapted from Hendrix and Winters (2001) [2]. Detailed questions were answered in regards to the following topics; accuracy, links to authority, current relevance, scope of coverage, objectivity and design of each source. This information was then critically analysed to determine the reliability and credibility of each source. Findings Journal Article – Energy density of foods and beverages in the Australian food supply: influence of macronutrients and comparison to dietary intake. [7]This article explores the relationship between energy density and the percentage of energy as fat, carbohydrate or percent water weight of individual foods and beverages listed in the 1999 Australian Food and Nutrient Database [9] composed by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand [10], as well as Australian dietary intake data obtained from the 1995 National Nutrition Survey (9). Links are made between relationships found in this and other studies towards the increase in overweight and obesity in Australia and worldwide.Analysis This is a peer-reviewed study sourced from the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, straight away indicating likely reliability. Methods, while generally clear, failed to sufficiently describe how energy density was calculated for Australian dietary intake data. Logical assumptions can be made as to how this was done, but further clarity is required. Data used was collected from 3673 individual foods, 247 beverages and dietary information from 13 858 people.This high volume of information and participants allowed for greater range of variances and increased reliability of findings. Results clearly presented findings and statistical evid ence to support relationships (or lack of) between energy density and main macronutrient energy source. The article is well referenced, citing 23 references, particularly articles from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition plus other journals and databases such as the Australian Food and Nutrient Database. According to SciVerse Scopus [7] this article is cited in 13 additional articles.Author, TC Crowe, Associate Professor and academic at the School of Exercise and nutrition at Deakin University has been involved with many studies prior to and since this article [11,12]. Though published in 2004, all the data used is from 1999 and 1995, making it slightly outdated. Due to the nature of the study, date is an unlikely relevant criteria. It is possible an influx of new products could have affected results of the study, though for this to be determined, a similar study would need to be carried out using the most recent AusNut from 2007 [9] .Recent studies that support the findings of this article are referenced throught the discussion, though most focus more on the relationship between energy density and overweight and obesity problems. As this is published in a nutrition journal, it can be assumed that the target audience is a combination of health professionals, academics, university students and government officials. The depth in which the article explains its findings is thorough yet simple, making it easy to understand even without a health or science background.The results section visually represents the data so that relationships can easily be seen and supports with appropriate statistical evidence. The discussion section does not go into great scientific detail but includes supporting information from other studies and focuses on the relationships between energy density and macronutrients and the links towards overweight and obesity issues. There is no apparent evidence towards any conflict of interest regarding the main author and study. Crowe was gu arantor and involved in all stages of the study with support from the remaining authors [7].Data used was collected by independent organisations, which further eliminates any possibility of any bias while publication in a European journal increases credibility from an Australian circle to a more global view. This is an observational study design which provides level III-3 evidence according to the NHMRC guidelines [13]. The design of the methods allowed results to be presented in a clear and concise manner, easily portraying the studies findings. The study acknowledges that it was, however, limited by the following; 1. Population daily food intake was collected over a 24 hour time period.Dietary habits are subject to change daily and different days could present different results. 2. No weighting system was used regarding daily food intake thus may lead to bias by under or over representing a particular food. 3. Comparisons cannot be made between individual foods and population dail y intake due to differences in data sets. Other limiting factors may include differences in food consumption habits and availability between 1995 and 1999. Evaluation The evaluation provides sufficient information to determine this study is a reliable source.While there is some room for improvement in methods and certain limitations need to be noted, it comes from a reliable source and cites many articles from similarly reliable sources. There are no apparent conflicts of interest and whilst slightly outdated, the results are not likely to vary greatly over time. Health Related Website – www. goodhealth. com. au The website titled ‘Good Health Now! ’ [9] is a small collection of health related articles ranging from 2009 to 2012 along with links to recent health related news articles from ABC News [14] and Natural news [15].Many (non news) articles have an external link located within the article. The website is well presented, aesthetically pleasing and seems to supply a varied range of health topics. After short investigation, however, it is apparent information on each topic Is quite limited. Analysis When looking at the accuracy of the website there appears to be no process in which the information has been reviewed or critically analysed before being posted. No references are found within the text nor listed at the end with the exception of one article, which had a direct link to an article from the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition [16].There were however, links in many articles to generally unfamiliar sites relating to the issue of discussion, often offering a product or service. While ABC News appears a reputable source, some headline appear to have authors and quotes or references while others appear to be press releases containing relatively general and basic information. Articles within the website have 1 of 3 author names; Admin, Katrina or Guest. Searching Admin or Katrina produced no information though some information cou ld be found regarding the Guest articles.The end of each Guest article presented a small biography titled either Author Bio, Bio or no heading at all. Those without the heading Author Bio assumed the biography was not regarding the article author. While it is possible to contact site administrators through the site, not contact information is available. Accounting these factors no judgment can be made on any authors level of authority or expertise with the exception of the few named Guest authors where further research would need to be done.Considering the high number of links to related sites promoting products, there is a strong bias towards product awareness, particularly regarding Guest articles. No specific ‘last update’ date was found on the website though each article states the publishing date. Articles range in date from 2009 to 2012 appearing relatively current, however the audience are unable to determine the age of the data this information was sourced from. Aimed at health conscious adults, the website boasted a motto of ‘enabling all the live a healthy, happy life’ with a not so hidden agenda towards advertisement and product promotion.While some articles provided some detailed information many were lacking in detail. The provided a brief overview to draw the customer in [17] but then required them to search further if truly interested. Language and detail was very simple therefore there was lots of room for improvement in detail and coverage of article in general. Evaluation While initially appearing professional, lack of evidence and references significantly demises the source’s credibility, with the high amount of product promotion suggesting excessive levels of bias in featured articles.Combined with lack of detailed, sufficient information this site appears to be neither reliable nor credible. Conclusion Completion of reviewing sources illustrates the importance of evaluating information found on the internet . The critiquing criteria used provided a solid guide to deciphering the reliability of each source. While journal articles are generally deemed a reliable source care must be taken to ensure they are peer-reviewed, even then, this does not guarantee 100% reliability. Consequently, the critiquing criteria should always be kept in mind. Lack of credibility of the Good Health Now! 9] website was quickly apparent once investigation started. A lot more attention and investigation would be required if investigating more well known health websites such as health. com or WebMD. Credibility is a lot less apparent and investigation would become significantly more reliant on the critiquing framework. ? References (1) McGowan J. Evidence-based health care and the Internet. Canadian Medical Association. Journal 1998 Oct 06;159(7):843-843. (2) Hendrickx L, Winters C. Evaluating healthcare information on the Internet: Guidelines for nurses. Crit Care Nurse 2001;21(2):62-5, 67-8. 3) Ahmann E. Supp orting families' savvy use of the Internet for health research. Pediatr Nurs 2000;26(4):419-23. (4) Kunst H, Groot D, Latthe PM, Latthe M, Khan KS. Accuracy of information on apparently credible websites: Survey of five common health topics. Br Med J 2002 Mar 09;324(7337):581-2. (5) Escoffery C, Miner KR, Adame DD, Butler S, al e. Internet Use for Health Information Among College Students. Journal of American College Health 2005;53(4):183-8. (6) Lazaroiu G. The Quality and Credibility of Process Control in Research. Economics, Management and Financial Markets 2012;7(2):185-191. 7) Crowe TC, La Fontaine ,H. A. , Gibbons CJ, Cameron-Smith D, Swinburn BA. Energy density of foods and beverages in the Australian food supply: Influence of macronutrients and comparison to dietary intake. Eur J Clin Nutr 2004;58(11):1485-91. (8) Good Health Now! [internet] No Date [cited 2012 Sep 13] Available from: http://www. goodhealth. com. au/ (9) Australian Food and Nutrient Database (1999): Australia n and New Zealand Food Authority. Available from: http://www. foodstandards. gov. au/ (10) McLennan W ; Podger A (1998); National Nutrition Survey. NutrientIntakes and Physical Measurements, Catalogue No. 4805. 0 Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. (11) Crowe TC, Cameron-Smith D. Low-carbohydrate diets in Australia: prevalence and public perceptions. Med J Aust 2005 Jun 06;182(11):594-5. (12) Crowe TC, Seligman SA, Copeland L. Inhibition of enzymic digestion of amylose by free fatty acids in vitro contributes to resistant starch formation. J Nutr 2000;130(8):2006-8. (13) Australian Government – National Health and Medical Research Council. NHMRC Levels of Evidence and Grades for recommendations for developers of guidelines. 2009 Dec. 14) ABC News [Internet] No date [cited 2012 Sep 13] Available from: http://www. abc. net. au/news/ (15) NaturalNews. com [Internet] Not date [cited 2012 Sep 13] Available from: http://www. naturalnews. com/index. html (16) Njike V, Faridi Z, Dutta S, Gonzalez-Simon A, Katz DL. Daily egg consumption in hyperlipidemic adults – Effects on endothelial function and cardiovascular risk. Nutrition Journal 2010;9(1):n/a. (17) Good Health Now! – True Causes of Diabetes [internet] No Date [cited 2012 Sep 13] Available from: http://www. goodhealth. com. au/220/conditions/diabetes/the-true-causes-of-diabetes/

Violent Video Games Are Bad for You

Today, children, teenagers, and adults are exposed to violence throughout their lives. They are exposed through television shows, movies, maybe even on the streets, but what researchers and scientists have proved to be an increasing factor of violence in children and adults is their being exposed to violent video games in which â€Å"they can produce violence, emotional outbursts, and inappropriate language†. According to Violent Video Games: The Newest Media Violence Hazard, about 85% or more video games include violent content.Violent content includes: blood and gore, killing, inappropriate language, and sexual content. Since then, many people have been saying that these games promote bad behavior and cause people to be more violent. As people play violent video games, it influences bad behavior in the player because when you play these games, you control the person who causes the crimes, shoot and kill your enemy, whether it is a criminal or policeman depending on the game you are playing. Since you are playing the game, you feel more connected with your character in the game and it may affect you in the real world.This is proved according to the article Computer Games Can Rot Your Brain. According to it, â€Å"researchers have shown that playing or watching violent video games has led to alcohol consumption, destruction of property and other bad behavior. Video games can also lead to stealing of items, mainly vehicles. † Although the article says that, Akemi, a long term gamer now 22 years old, says otherwise. He says â€Å"I have been playing games since I was at least 7, I have no criminal record. I have good grades and have often been caught playing well into the night (that is, 4 hours or more). Even though Akemi has no criminal record, Brad Bushman, a scientist that has been studying the effects of violent games on people says â€Å"aggressive behavior may appear not as criminal activity or physical violence but in more subtle ways in w ays people react to or interact with other people in everyday life. † This would mean that Akemi, a gamer for years with no criminal record, may not cause crimes, but inside of him he has some kind of violent behavior that he expresses while interacting with people without him knowing it.Not only do violent videos promote bad behavior, they also destroy students’ grades. If someone is already influenced by the bad behavior in video games, it is certain that the student will not succeed in school. If he is not influenced by bad behavior and are getting unacceptable grades in school, then it may be the game’s addictiveness. Games are fun, especially when you are defeating monsters and killing people which cause you to do it for hours on, making you addicted to it.When you are at school, you would only think about these games and ignore your education. This is supported by Bushman when he says â€Å"The link between violent media and aggression is stronger than the link between doing homework and getting good grades. † People disagree with this and say that violent video games don’t cause bad grades because it might have been that the student was already receiving unacceptable grades before his exposure of violent games concluding that the games had no affect on his poor performance at school.This may be true but, what makes it a bad argument is that the student that is doing poorly in school and is playing these games will never get out of their habit of getting bad grades. If this student was to switch up his games with educational games for instance, then he may have gained the smarts to get out of his habit and become a better student. In the end, violent video games are harmful for you, and everyone else.They cause disruptive behavior, promote violence most more often than not, and encourage students to get poor grades. Many people disagree with this but Bushman says â€Å"many scientific studies clearly show that violent v ideo games make kids more likely to yell, push, and punch. † If we do not see an effect now, we would see it take place later on if they continue to play the games. As a final word, he says â€Å"We included every single study we could find on the topic. Regardless of what kids say, violent video games are harmful. †

3 Cases of Complicated Parenthetical Punctuation

3 Cases of Complicated Parenthetical Punctuation 3 Cases of Complicated Parenthetical Punctuation 3 Cases of Complicated Parenthetical Punctuation By Mark Nichol Inserting additional information into a sentence without careful consideration of sentence organization can create barriers to comprehension, especially when the parenthesis is complicated. Here are several sentences in which complex parenthetical phrases are not treated with care, followed by discussion and revision. 1. Consumers have the right to speak out or complain, and to seek compensation- payment or a replacement item- or redress- have a wrong corrected. Here, the use of dashes to set off a pair of parenthetical phrases confuses the reader’s eye; use mirror-image parenthetical marks instead for a clearer picture of the sentence’s syntactical organization: â€Å"Consumers have the right to speak out or complain, and to seek compensation (payment or a replacement item) or redress (have a wrong corrected).† 2. They had an unwavering belief that they simply could not- or maybe more accurately stated, would not- be defeated. Because â€Å"maybe more accurately stated† is a parenthesis within a parenthesis, a comma must precede as well as follow it: â€Å"They had an unwavering belief that they simply could not- or, maybe more accurately stated, would not- be defeated.† 3. If thorough controls are not in place, over time, as updates and changes are made to your environment, conflicts are likely to arise, posing varying levels of risk to your business and ultimately forcing you to revisit your design. The number of commas in this sentence is excessive; when the phrase â€Å"over time† and the rest of the parenthetical phrase (ending with environment) is transposed, the comma between them becomes extraneous and the sentence structure is clearer: â€Å"If thorough controls are not in place, as updates and changes are made to your environment over time, conflicts are likely to arise, posing varying levels of risk to your business and ultimately forcing you to revisit your design.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Similes from Literature to Inspire YouEnglish Grammar 101: Verb MoodTitled versus Entitled

Free Essays on Edger Allan Poe

Edger Allen Poe Edgar Alan Poe was born in Boston in 1809, the son of itinerant actors. Both his parents died within two years of his birth. Edgar was taken into the home of a Richmond merchant, John Allan, although he was never legally adopted. His early work as a writer went unrecognized and he was forced to earn his living on newspapers, working as an editor in Richmond, Philadelphia, and New York. In 1836 he married his cousin, Virginia, who was then fourteen; she died eleven years later of tuberculosis. Poe died a few years later in 1849 and was buried in Baltimore beside his wife. His early work as a writer went unrecognized and he was forced to earn his living on newspapers, working as an editor in Richmond, Philadelphia, and New York. He is known as "The Portable Poe". After a reconciliation, Poe entered the Military Academy at West Point in 1830; he was dishonorably discharged in January 1831.... Free Essays on Edger Allan Poe Free Essays on Edger Allan Poe Edger Allen Poe Edgar Alan Poe was born in Boston in 1809, the son of itinerant actors. Both his parents died within two years of his birth. Edgar was taken into the home of a Richmond merchant, John Allan, although he was never legally adopted. His early work as a writer went unrecognized and he was forced to earn his living on newspapers, working as an editor in Richmond, Philadelphia, and New York. In 1836 he married his cousin, Virginia, who was then fourteen; she died eleven years later of tuberculosis. Poe died a few years later in 1849 and was buried in Baltimore beside his wife. His early work as a writer went unrecognized and he was forced to earn his living on newspapers, working as an editor in Richmond, Philadelphia, and New York. He is known as "The Portable Poe". After a reconciliation, Poe entered the Military Academy at West Point in 1830; he was dishonorably discharged in January 1831....